Sunday, 6 November 2016

Broken Britain and the rise of Tory fascism

Immoral, incompetent and inane. Generous verdicts on the alleged UK government, whose descent into the slime of authoritarian derangement has been underlined this week by its frightening response to a decision merely to uphold the law. The cavalier ineptitude demonstrated by both the Prime Minister and her Lord Chancellor when faced with a seditious libel perpetrated by her press controllers is a compelling argument that the logic and integrity of the British state is being undermined from within its own government.

Reading the High Court's ruling in the context of the evil assault and intimidation practised upon the judges it is impossible to understand what all the fuss is about. Last year, David Cameron, the chief architect of the current perdition, in his perorations around the anniversary of Magna Carta, was a staunch defence of power against the Crown. In the mendacious and forgotten world of the Brexit treachery, their entire farrago of lies was based around "taking back control". What should not be forgotten is that the judgement this week was not about whether or not to act on a referendum result but the process whereby rights and duties can be extinguished without reference to Parliament.

There is a dishonourable trait amongst many of the dribbling fringe of Tory backbenchers to drift into the UKIP fringe - using the Maoist mantra of "will of the people" to justify subverting the constitution and launching ad hominem attacks on those who seek to uphold due process and the checks and balances of an already-imperfect system. Their denial that the constitutional settlements across the four nations of Britain implies rights to those who disagree with them is a recipe for intolerance at best, fascism at worst.

Analysis of the Brexiteers' whining this week is not rewarding, other than to demonstrate both the depth of ignorance and their fear of challenge. Their behaviour is based around an incredible canard, to the effect that the only decision that matters is that of an advisory referendum, and that there is no deviation from their individual peculiar, diverse and mutually-incompatible definitions as to how it should be implemented. Public policy cannot be based around such a cretinous reductionism, and the Tory vileness is that they are encouraging this to become the lingua franca of discourse.

In a state where there was a functional government, the abuse and subversion of the media would be prosecuted and editors such as Paul Dacre arraigned for contempt of court and sedition. In a state where there was a functional Opposition party this would be their battle cry, in the context of defending those who should be rallying to topple a corrupt and seditious administration.

Instead we have a Labour Party determined to fight yesterday's battles when there is an existential threat to the future of the entire country. Why else would Labour, faced with a Tory/UKIP stitch-up in Richmond Park's ego-driven by-election, not tap into the reality that an unjust system and a crisis needs new thinking, rather than indulging Christian Wolmar's not-inconsiderable ego? Why not look to an anti-Tory, pro-Britain campaign which would do more to improve Labour's chances elsewhere through picking up tactical votes for a different agenda? On policy, I find myself aligned with many of Corbyn's positions. On strategy, he is standing in the toilet bowl waiting for someone else to flush.

In such a context, it is easy to see why disengagement may be the best strategy, if only to preserve sanity. The increasing requirement of civilised people will be to protect their values. Much as happened in Germany under the Nazis, this is the outcome that the rabid right are banking on, so they must be deprived. The courts have deprived May of riding roughshod over legal and parliamentary precedent, and it is encouraging that the devolved nations are joining the challenge. As the only modern parts of the UK constitution their enforcement of rights will be central.

Yet this is not going to be enough. In the longer-term, each outpouring of racism, bigotry and ignorance undermines both the authority and legitimacy of the state. As this crumbles, the final decencies of a civil society diminish and disappear. Unleashing the mob is the approach that Farage and other fascists have left, given that their arguments have been disproved. It may be necessary now to contemplate the British Isles with a rogue state at the centre, and to ensure that this is avoided at all costs - if that means breaking the current constitution through fragmentation of the devolved nations, London and the modern city regions from a regressive, fearful backwoods peasantry in England then it may be sensible to cast the feral fascists adrift.